The initiation of formal science education provides an opportunity to investigate how age-related language and reading skills respond to the challenge of science literacy (SL) performance. SL in early primary schools refers to the understanding and application of scientific core ideas and practices for informed decision-making. Studies revealed that high levels of singular reading or language skills correlate with better SL performance in school settings. However, it is essential to explore how nuanced words and textual reading skills relate to SL performance for early primary learners. One hundred ninety-three Hong Kong second graders were assessed on word reading, reading comprehension, vocabulary, nonverbal reasoning, and SL. The hierarchical regression model shows that word reading and reading comprehension are significant predictors of SL, controlling for nonverbal reasoning and vocabulary. Further, mediation analysis reveals that reading comprehension significantly mediates the effect of word reading on SL at grade 2, suggesting a shared reading-SL cognitive process. A tailored early elementary school literacy instruction is a promising way to enhance SL development among young learners. Copyright © 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The study examined the relationships between self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies used by 2,894 bilingual primary school students and their Chinese and English reading test performance. Exploratory factor analysis of the self-reported SRL strategy use questionnaire yielded two factors of strategies (planning and monitoring) used in both Chinese and English reading. The analysis of the structural equation model indicated that the planning and monitoring strategies used in Chinese reading positively affected their corresponding strategies used in English reading. The Chinese planning and monitoring strategies directly and positively affected both Chinese and English reading test performance. The English planning had a positive effect on English reading test performance while the English monitoring strategy did not affect English reading test performance. The results contribute to the knowledge of SRL in second language and bilingual education in the Chinese context. Copyright © 2022 Routledge.

This study aims to advance our understanding of the role of word knowledge in second language (L2) reading comprehension by exploring whether morphological awareness and vocabulary assessed one year ago contribute to decoding and listening comprehension which in turn contribute to reading comprehension in Chinese children learning English as an L2. A total of 167 Grade 3 and 4 primary school students (Mage = 8.99 years) in Hong Kong were tested on English morphological awareness and vocabulary at Time 1, and they were also tested on English decoding, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension at Time 2, one year later. Our regression models showed that word knowledge tested at Time 1 was a significant predictor of decoding, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension at Time 2; and word knowledge explained more variance in decoding, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension in children who had higher levels of word knowledge. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that vocabulary contributed to reading comprehension fully through decoding and listening comprehension. Morphological awareness contributed to reading comprehension partially through vocabulary and decoding, and it also had a unique direct contribution to reading comprehension. The findings from this study suggested the importance of emphasizing word knowledge in developing children’s reading comprehension in an L2 at an early stage of learning to read. Copyright © 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

This study explored whether children's second language (L2) vocabulary, syntactic awareness, and reading comprehension contributed to the growth of each other. A total of 184 Chinese primary school children (91 girls) aged 8–10 years old in Hong Kong participated in the pre-test of this study. Among them, 88 were in Grade 3 and 96 were in Grade 4. One year later, 178 of these children also participated in the post-test. These children learned English as an L2 at school. They completed a series of English language tasks. The results from a cross-lagged panel model show that vocabulary predicted the growth of syntactic awareness and reading comprehension. Syntactic awareness predicted the growth of vocabulary and reading comprehension. Reading comprehension facilitated the growth of vocabulary, and it also predicted the growth of syntactic awareness in Grade 4 students but not in Grade 3 students. Implications for teaching children an L2 are discussed. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In this study, we investigated the direct and indirect associations of different cognitive–linguistic skills and Chinese reading comprehension in Hong Kong kindergarteners. We assessed 179 children's nonverbal IQ, cognitive–linguistic skills, word reading, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. Results showed significant correlations between all variables and reading comprehension. Further path analysis results indicated that rapid automatized naming, orthographic knowledge, and morphological awareness contributed to reading comprehension via word reading. Nonverbal IQ and vocabulary knowledge were associated with reading comprehension through listening comprehension. Beyond that, nonverbal IQ and morphological awareness still contributed directly to reading comprehension. Overall, our findings elucidated the importance of nonverbal IQ and cognitive–linguistic skills within the framework of the simple view of reading in Chinese and highlighted the unique roles of nonverbal IQ and meaning-related skills in Chinese reading comprehension, which contributed to understanding the simple view of reading in Chinese. Copyright © 2022 Language Learning Research Club, University of Michigan.

The present study investigated the executive functioning of working memory, inhibition, shifting, and planning in Chinese adolescent readers with dyslexia and how they related to Chinese (L1) and English (L2) reading comprehension. Fifty-seven Hong Kong Chinese students at Grade 7 were compared with 57 typically developing readers of chronological-age-matched controls on their performance on working memory, inhibition, shifting, planning, vocabulary knowledge, rapid naming, and reading comprehension in Chinese and English. Results from the multivariate analysis of variance showed that readers with dyslexia performed worse than the typical readers in executive functioning, vocabulary knowledge, rapid naming, and reading comprehension. Hierarchical regressions indicated that working memory, inhibition, and vocabulary knowledge were significant predictors of reading comprehension in L1 after controlling for age, IQ, and group membership. Furthermore, working memory, inhibition, shifting, vocabulary knowledge, and rapid naming contributed uniquely to reading comprehension in L2. Taken together, these findings suggest executive functioning difficulties in Chinese readers with dyslexia and highlight the differential contributions of executive functioning to Chinese and English reading comprehension; working memory and inhibition appear to play an important role in reading comprehension across different languages. Copyright ©Springer Netherlands.

This paper presents a small-scale study examining the effects of metacognitive reading strategy instruction on English language learners' reading comprehension in a Hong Kong international school. Twenty-five primary school (Grade 5) students who learn English as a second language participated in this study. Metacognitive instruction was incorporated into 10 process-based reading lessons. Data were collected from notes learners took during reading, post-reading reflection reports, teacher-facilitated group discussions and two types of reading tests. Results revealed that the young learners could articulate several knowledge factors that influenced their reading. In addition, learners reported a better understanding of the nature and demands of reading, a deeper awareness of metacognitive knowledge in improving reading comprehension and increased confidence in handling reading exercises. The learners also showed enhanced reading performance compared to those in a control group without metacognitive intervention. This study highlights the potential of metacognitive instruction to enhance primary school English learners' reading literacy.
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當前語文課程及教學研究都十分重視引導學生掌握閱讀策略，但對於小學低年級學生閱讀策略的學習對加強閱讀理解表現有否成效，卻依然存在爭議。針對這一問題，本研究在香港六所本地小學二年級實施了為期一年的閱讀策略教學准實驗。控制班136 人，實驗班148 人。研究表明，教學實驗後，實驗班學生的閱讀理解進步分顯著高於控制班；低水平的閱讀者在閱讀實驗中受益最大。調查問卷顯示，學生在教學實驗後在展示創意、想像畫面兩項策略的應用頻次上有顯著提升。本研究也討論了研究結果對閱讀教學的一些啟發。The current Chinese curriculum and teaching research attach great importance to master reading strategies, but the effects of learning reading strategies among lower graders are still controversial. In response to this research gap, this study implemented a one-year quasi-experiment by teaching P2 students reading strategies among six local primary schools in Hong Kong. There were 136 pupils in the controlled class and 148 in the experimental class. This study demonstrated that after the teaching experiment, students in experimental class had a significant improvement in reading comprehension than that of the controlled class; low level readers benefitted the most from the teaching experiment. Results collected from the questionnaire indicated that students have significantly improved the use of the two strategies (i.e., demonstrating creativity and imaging) when reading independently after teaching experiment. Implications on reading instruction derived from the results were discussed as well. Copyright © 2019 香港教育大學.

This study investigated the direct and indirect roles of verbal and visuospatial memory in Chinese reading comprehension. One hundred twenty-eight Cantonese-speaking children participated in the study at the end of their 3rd year of kindergarten in Hong Kong. Both verbal and visuospatial memory were found to be significantly associated with Chinese reading comprehension. Path analysis showed that visuospatial memory was significantly associated with reading comprehension through word reading. Verbal memory was associated with reading comprehension indirectly through listening comprehension. Additionally, the direct path from visuospatial memory to reading comprehension was significant when word reading and listening comprehension were considered simultaneously. The findings of the direct and unique role of visuospatial memory in reading comprehension in Chinese elaborated and extended our understanding of the simple view of reading in young children in a non-alphabetic language. Copyright © 2020 Springer Nature B.V.

In a two-year longitudinal study we examined if and how syntactic awareness in L1 Chinese influenced reading comprehension in L2 English, a typologically different script. Participants were 401 Chinese-English bilingual children from Hong Kong. We assessed their word order, morphosyntactic, and reading comprehension skills in L1 Chinese and L2 English, and retested them after one year. Results showed that L1 syntactic awareness cross-linguistically predicted L2 reading comprehension over time; this prospective relationship was mediated by L2 syntactic awareness but not L1 reading comprehension. Moreover, similarity in syntactic structure was important in determining the degree of transfer. The comparable word-order structure between L1 and L2, thus less syntactic distance, rendered word order awareness more transferable than morphosyntactic awareness. Our findings suggest that teachers may evoke L1 syntactic features and map them onto L2 corresponding structures to facilitate reading comprehension in L2. Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.